Ophthalmic mounting



Oct. 16, 1928. 1,687,954

- F. A. STEVENS OPHTHALMIC MOUNTING Original Filed May 8- 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ina/entir- F. A. STEVENS Oct. 16, 1928. I 1,687,954

OPHTHALMIC MOUNTING Original Filed m a. 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet Inn, fi

Patented Oct. 16, 1928;

entree STATES PATENT? OFFICE.

FREDERICK ARTHUR STEVENS, OE PROVIDENCE, ,RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOB T0.

BAUSCH AND LOMB OPTICAL COMPANY, OF RQCHESTER, NEWqYQRK, A CORPOR;A--

TIGN OE NEW'YOBK.

Original application filed May 8 1920,

The present invention relates to oplithalmic mountings and more particularly to temple connections for spectacles. The present application is a division of an application, Serial No. 879,788, filed May 8', 1920, which matured on December 30,1924, into Patent No. 1,521,484.

The securing together of the temple end pieces of a pair of spectacles is a delicate operation which requires skillful manipulation. The ends of the rim must be held, one in each hand, and the lens must be prevented from falling out of the open rim, and yet some Way must also be found for holding and none of which are'entirely satisfactory, The ObJGCi of this invention, therefore, 1s toprovide simple means for selt-ma1nte-' nance of the temple in position upon the dowel until the end plece's are secured together,

To this end, a feature of the invention contemplates providing the dowel with a yielding projecting shoulder that is adapted to be engaged by the temple tov maintain it in position upon the dowel. The shoulder may yield to permlt it to 'pass through the opening in the ear of the temple to permit removal of the temple from the dowel. I

As commonly constructed, the dowels provided upon temple end pieces are so insecurely mounted thereon that a comparatively small force exerted upon their free ends is sui'licient to drive them through their supporting end pieces. gestcd to form the dowel integral with the end piece, but this introduces d'ifliculties in manufacture that have caused the suggestion to meet with disfavor. The expedient-has also been tried of formingthe dowel with a QBHTHALMI MOUNTING- Various attempts have hitherto the reason above be visible when the end pieces are secured- I has been sug- Serial N'o. 379,788 Divided was application filed April 24, 1924. Serial no. 708,695. I i

reduced terminal. portion which extends through the reduced opening of a counter sunk-bore in the end piece, and hammering" or riveting over so much of the reduced ter- I m'inal portion as extends through and beyond the reduced opening, thus securing the dowel firmly in position upon the end piece;

Among other objections to this'construction, the body portion of the'dowel is necessarily much too large for ordinary purposes and the hammering or rit eting over of the terminal portion of the dowel introduces an unattractive appearance which" repels purchasers. Inorder to avoid the objectionable riveting, the use of suitably fashioned loose dowels has been proposed, but loose '1 members of the" size of temple dowels become'so easily lost orfmisplaced that this proposahtoo, has not met with commercial favor. I

A further object of'the present inventionv is to im royeupon the construction of end plece's, e iminating the above-mentioned difficulties.

\Vith this end "in view, a feature of the invention resides in providing a slender dowel with an enlarged head that seats upon the shoulder of a counterbore in the end" piece, and swaging the material near the walls of the bore over against the head and the'body of the dowel to secure thedowel in place;

The ends ofthe dowel are commonly vis- I 'ible' through the outer faces of the'end'pieces,v

producing an unsightly appearancev which it has been proposed to eliminate. by making the do-wel'integral with the end p'zece. For

practical. I

A further obj ect' of the present invention given, this proposal is'not is to provide an end-piece construction the separately formed dowel of which shall'not ception of the'dowel, the outer faces of the end pieces remaining thus unmarred by the boring tool. a

' With the above and'other objects in'view,

showing a temple maintained in position' upon a dowel; Fig. 3 is a view of a detail; Fig. 1 is view similar to Fig. 1 of a modification; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the modification shown in Fig. 1-, showing a temple maintained in position upon the dowel; Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the construction of the end piece that is unprovided with the dowel; Figs. 7 and 8 are views of details; Fig. 9 is a view similar toFig. 4; of a slight modification; Figs. 10

and 11 are views corresponding to Figs. 7

and 8, respectively; F 12 is a View of still another modification; Fig. 13 is a view of a detail; Fig. 14 is a view corresponding to Fig. 2 of a-slightly modified embodiment; Fig. 15 is a view similar to Fig. 12, illustrating a somewhat different method of mounting the dowel upon the endpiece; and Fig. 16 is a view of still another modification.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the body portion of a dowel 2, that is permanently secured upon a temple end piece at of a spectacle frame, is cylindrical to provide a bearing for a temple 12. and is shown provided with a projecting, ring-shaped shoulder 18 near the free end. They ear 10 of the temple 12 is provided with the usual opening 14: to facilitate its mounting upon the dowel. The ring-shaped projection 18 is shown separable from the body portion of the dowel. For convenience of mounting within the dowelreceivin oaenin 2O ofan ordinar stand-- ard end piece 16, the ring-shaped projection 18 is constituted of spring metal expansible, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, to retain the temple in position upon the dowel, and contractible, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to be enclosed within the dowel-receiving opening 20 I of standard size. To permit of this contraction, and so that the ring may be prevented from falling off the dowel, it is shown mounted within a' groove 22 provided near the free end of the dowel.

The temple is perfectly free to pivot about understood from a consideration of Fig. l, in which the shoulder is shown as consisting of a short, projecting finger 2 1. It is preferred to have this finger constituted of spring metal mounted upon a spring-metal base 26, as is illustrated in Fig. 8. The base 26 is mounted in a longitudinal slot 28 of the dowel. The illustrated embodiment of this modification is shown as comprising two oppositely disposed spring fingers 24, so that the temple ear may be engaged by one or the other of the fingers. In practice, to prevent wabbly motion, as in the case of Fig. 2, both fingers may be always in engagement with the temple ear, as will be clear from Figs. 4 and 'The fingers 2% may be pressed inwardly into the slot 28 if an end piece 16 of standard construction is employed or, preferably, the opening 20 or" the end piece 16 may be slightly enlarged at to provide for receiving the projecting fingers without conu iiressing them'inwardly.

The structure of this modification is alittle more complicated than that of Fig. 1, but, on the other hand, itv has all the advantages of the latter-named modification with the additional advantage that the temple may be engaged at two points only by the fingers 24 and not throughout a complete circumference, as is the case with the ring 18.

In the modification of Fig. 12, the lack of.

wabbly motion of the temple upon the dowel that is attendant upon the structures of Figs.

1 and 4 is obtained with an integral projecting ring, 8 upon the dowel. The body portion of the dowel is intermediately reduced in cross section at 32 and a spring collar34c is loosely mounted about the reduced por tion. The integral, projecting, ring-shaped shoulder 8 prevents the collar becoming detached from the dowel. After the spring collar 34 has been thus positioned, it is contracted and introduced within the opening 14 of the temple ear. The walls of'the opening 14 becoming frictionally engaged by the collar, the collar and the temple act functionally as a 'unit. The temple is thus prevented from falling off the'dowel, though, in the other described modifications, the spectacles may be held in any position, yet it is freely pivotally mounted thereover without frictional binding thereagainst and it may be readily removed'and replaced as occasion demands.

A very slmple structure, as is illustrated in Fig. 16, may be ob ained by simply slitting longitudinally the free end of the dowel and-springing the free slitted portions apart.

The slitted sprung apart portions constitute V shoulders similar to the springfingers 2 1 of Fig. 4;,- but they have the disadvantage that they would cause binding upon the walls of the slot 1 1, and thereby interfere with proper pivotal movement of the temple.

Dowels, as ordinarily constructed, are

comparatively easily forced through the outer faces ofthe-end piecestowhichthey are secured by comparatively light thrustsacting longitudinally upon the ends of the.

dowelsi diameter of the bore being equal to the diam- I eter of the enlarged head; The material near the wall of the bore is then forced into contact with the head and that portion of i the body oftlie dowel 'that'is mounted-in the bore in any desired way, as by swaging, thus securn'ig the dowel firmly in. place.

[L very eliicient, simple and inexpensive end piece is thus provided, having all the advantages of the I the added advantagezthat the dowel can not become accidentally dislodged from itssete" tin by a comp arativelylight" thrust upon the end face of the dowel. This structure is, however, of further advantage in that, with slight modification, it lends itself readily to the manufacture of a temple connection the dowel of which is invisible when the parts of the spectacle are assembled.

This feature of the invention will be readily understood from a consideration of Figs. 1, 9 and 14. The bore 29 does not extend all the way through the end piece 4, and the terminal portion 39 is omitted from the dowel, so that the dowel, when secured n position, is not visible from the Outer face of the end piece. The enlarged head 25 particularly adapts the dowel fora mounting of this character. The opening 20 in the. other end piece is similarly bored but part way through and the dowel is correspond ingly shortened. When the end pieces are secured together, with the temple in place between them, as shown in'Fig. 1, no sign of the dowel is anywhere visible, the outer faces of the end pieces being thus rendered smooth and attractive. The elimination of the customary rings from the-outer faces of the end pieces furthermore provides one less dirt-collecting agency upon the temple mounting. I v

As the invention is believed to be broad in scope, it is intended that the following claims shall be broadly construed except in so far as limitations may therein be specifically imposed. i

hat is claimed is:

'1. A temple end piece having a dowel adapted-to be received in the opening of a temple ear when the ear is positioned over the dowel with one face thereof in contact with the end piece, and a yielding shoulder prior-art structures and posed in contact with gaged bythe ear to maint'ain-the'temple in position upon the dowel, the shoulder being adapted to. yield to permit removalof the temple from the dowel. r V

adapted to be'received in the opening of a tez'nplecar when the e: .ris positioned over the dowel with one :facet-hereofin contact withthe end piece, and a spring collar'projecting from the dowelaiidndaptedto be" engaged by the ear to maintain theiteinple "in position upon the dowel, the spring 31131 being adapted to yield topermit removal of the temple from thedowel,

3. In combination, a temple end piece having a dowel, and a temple having an ear provided with an-opening within which the dowel is received, the ear beingadapted to be positioned over the dowel with one :face

thereof in contact with the end ?piece, the

body portion of the dowel being cylindrical to provide a bearing for the ten1ple; the'free endof the cylindrical dowe'l being-interniediately reduced in cross section, ayielding ring mounted on the reduced portionofr' the dowel, adjacent to the other face of the ear and adapted to be engaged by the ear to maintain the temple in position upon the dowel, the ring being adapted toyield to projecting from thedowel adapted to be en- 2. Aftemple end piece having a dowel permit it to be passed through-the opening to permit removal-of the temple from the dowel.

'4. A temple end piece having a bore ex-v tending from one face of the end piece part way to the opposite face, and aslender dowel having an enlarged head in the bore, the material near the wall of the bore being disthe head and the body of the dowel.

5. A temple end piece having a countersunk bore and a slender dowel having an en largedhead and a portion of its body in the enlarged'portionof the bore and. aportion seated in the remaining portion of the bore, the material near the wall of the bore being disposed in contact with the head and the-body of the dowel.

6. An opthalmic mounting having, in combination, two end pieces each provided with an opening extending from a face, thereof part way into the end piece, a post secured in one of the openings and extending into the other opening, and a temple mounted over the post. i

7. In combination, a temple endpiece hav-' ing a dowel, atemple having an ear provided with an opening within which the dowel is received, the ear being'adapted to be positioned over the dowel with one face thereof in contact with the end piece, and a V adapted to be engaged by theear to maintain the temple in position upon thedowel,

the shoulder being adapted to yield to permit it to be passed through the'opening to permit removal of the temple from the dowel.

8. In combination, a temple end piece having a dowel, a temple having an ear provided with. an opening within Which the dowel is received, the ear being adapted to be positioned over the dowel with one face thereof in contact with the end piece, and a yielding ring projecting from the dowel adjacent to the other face of the ear and adapted to be'engaged by the ear to maintain the temple in position uponthe dowel, the ring being adapted to yield to permit it to be passed through the opening to permit removal of the temple from the dowel.

9 In combination, a temple end piece having a dowel, a temple having; an ear provided with anopening within which the dowel is received, the ear being adapted to be positioned over the dowel with one face thereof in contact with th end piece, and

yielding means adjacentto the other face of the ear when the said one face is in contact with the end piece, and adapted to be engaged by the ear when the said one face is in contact with the end piece to maintain the temple in position upon the dowel, the yield ing means being adapted to yield to permit it to be passed through the opening to permit removal of the temple from the dowel.

10. In combination, a temple end piece having a dowel, a temple having'an ear provided with an opening within which the dowel is received, the our being adapted to be positioned over the dowel with one face thereof in contact with'the end piece, and

spring means projecting from the dowel ad- FREDERICK A. STEVENS. 

